Welcome to the 11th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2025 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Lettuce Mix – A mix of 4 lettuce varieties.
• Mixed Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Cilantro
• French Fingerling Potatoes – Freshly dug, these are the first of the spring-planted potatoes. The skins will be thin and won’t need much scrubbing. This variety is best roasted or boiled.
• Mixed Onions
• Garlic
• Sweet Corn
• Mixed Snap Beans
• Cucumbers – Mixed green and silver slicers. Shoutout to CSA member Coral R. who shared their go-to refrigerator pickle recipe with us a couple of weeks back and we agree it’s a keeper. The recipe says kirby cucumbers only but we used small-medium slicers and have been eating up the crisp pickles on everything. Check it out here and get some cukes pickling. You won’t regret it.
• Zucchini & Summer Squash
• Green & Purple Bell Peppers – Equivalent to a green bell pepper, the purple peppers are the under-ripe stage for that variety. Use them as you would a green bell.
• Jalapeno Peppers
• Mixed Tomatoes – Pints of cherries plus all the slicers this week.
• Mixed Melons – Including Tirreno Tuscan cantaloupes, Honey Orange honeydews, and Lambkin piel de sapo melons.

Hello heatwave! August has decided to throw a range of temperatures our way and we’re currently working through the hottest of them. While we prefer the 70s and overcast, the work still has to get done when it’s over 100 degrees and very sunny. That’s meant early mornings, lots of water, and breaks in the newly air conditioned house.

That’s right, we finally leveled up and installed a window air conditioner in our main living space (living room/dining/kitchen). It’s been a game changer the past few days. Retreating into the house from 102 degrees outside to an icy 74 inside has made it possible to keep on keeping on. That corn isn’t going to pick itself after all.

We’re in that part of the season when the summer crops are rolling in. Tomatoes for days, cucumbers and zucchini are piling up, the first ripe melons! But our focus is also partially on the encroaching fall and winter seasons. We’re planning and planting for the upcoming cold months. Sometimes it feels like the planting is never finished due to the late season plantings for winter. We’ll be thankful for the radicchio salads and frost sweetened cabbages come January though.

This past week we cultivated and trellised tomatoes and mowed and prepped ground and started more lettuce and transplanted cabbage and beans and chicories and continuously irrigated everything. We Augusted.

In the week ahead we’ll do more of the same. We’ll get the overwintered cauliflower and broccoli in the ground. We’ll mow some now harvested beds. We’ll finish cleaning up the leeks. You know, the stuff that didn’t get done this past week. And we’ll look forward to that potential rain in the forecast on Friday. Rain in August? That’s hard to imagine.

Enjoy the vegetables and we’ll see you here next week!

Your farmers,
Carri Heisler & Jeff Bramlett

.

Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower with Curry Brown Butter

• 1/2 head cauliflower, stem trimmed and cut into bite-sized (1 1/2-inch) florets (about 4 cups)
• 1 large head broccoli, stem trimmed and cut into bite-sized (1 1/2-inch) florets (about 4 cups)
• 2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoon salted butter
• 2 1/2 teaspoon Madras curry powder
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup golden raisins, currants, or raisins
• 1 tablespoon capers, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, plus more for finishing, if desired
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

• Step 1 Heat oven to 425°F with a rack in the center. On a sheet pan, toss the broccoli and cauliflower with olive oil, salt, and pepper and arrange in a single layer. (Don’t overcrowd–otherwise, they’ll end up steaming vs. roasting.) Roast, without flipping, until tender when pierced with a fork, and nicely browned and crispy around the edges, about 18 to 20 minutes.
• Step 2 Meanwhile, make the curry brown butter. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom so they don’t burn, until brown and nutty, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat; add curry powder, almonds, golden raisins, capers, and lemon juice. Whisk to combine.
• Step 3 Remove the sheet pan from the oven and immediately add the curry brown butter, tossing until the vegetables are evenly coated. Add cilantro, salt, and a squeeze of lemon to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.

From Food52.com by EmilyC, https://food52.com/recipes/88522-best-roasted-broccoli-and-cauliflower-recipe

Orzo with Blistered Green Beans, Burst Tomatoes, and Feta

Kosher salt
1 cup dried orzo
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/2 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise (not lengthwise, where the green bean is split open)
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
2 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 small lemon, juiced
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/4 cup fresh mint, both leaves and tender stems, roughly chopped or torn
Freshly ground black pepper

• Step 1 Salt a large pot of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the orzo and cook until just tender with a little firmness to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain in a colander and drizzle with olive oil, mixing to coat. Set aside.
• Step 2 Meanwhile, heat the oil in a 12-inch cast-iron or heavy-weight skillet over medium-high heat. Add the green beans, season with salt, and let cook without moving until they start to sizzle and sound like they will pop, 2 ½ to 3 minutes, so that they get contact with the pan and blister on one side. Stir, then add the tomatoes, seasoning with salt and red-pepper flakes. Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the green beans are crisp-tender and the tomatoes burst, 4 to 6 minutes more.
• Step 3 Reduce the heat to low, then add the soy sauce, stirring to combine and letting the liquid reduce, about 1 minute more. Pour in the orzo, lemon juice, and half the feta and stir so the feta melts. Take the pan off the heat and garnish with the remaining feta and mint. Season with pepper to taste and serve.

From Food52.com by YasminFahr, https://food52.com/recipes/85764-orzo-salad-recipe-with-green-beans-tomatoes-feta-mint

One-Skillet Succotash Pot Pie

• 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 4 teaspoon neutral oil, divided
• 1 small zucchini, cut into ¼-inch pieces
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 4 ounce green beans, trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces
• 5 ounce cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 2 ears of corn, kernels cut off the cob
• 3 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup chicken bone broth
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 small shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 egg

• Step 1 Preheat your oven to 400°F.
• Step 2 Unfold the sheet of puff pastry onto a cutting board and gently flatten with a rolling pin. Using an 8” fry pan as a guide, cut out a circle a little larger than the rim of your pan. Score the dough with a sharp knife, starting at the center, then fanning out to the outer rim, until you get all the way around. Transfer to a plate and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Step 3 Heat the fry pan over medium-high heat with 1 teaspoon of neutral oil. Add the zucchini and season with a pinch of salt. Cook, tossing frequently, until the zucchini is golden-brown and tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer the zucchini into a medium bowl. Repeat with the green beans, corn, and cherry tomatoes, transferring each batch of cooked vegetables to the same bowl.
• Step 4 Over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of water to the pan and use a stiff rubber spatula or wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits that have developed. Transfer liquid to the bowl with your other vegetables.
• Step 5 Add the butter to the pan and heat over medium-high until melted and foaming. Add the flour and whisk until combined. Cook, stirring constantly, until the flour just starts to smell toasty but is still blonde, about 1 minute.
• Step 6 Whisk in the bone broth and season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until the gravy is thickened and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Add the gravy to the bowl with the vegetables, along with the garlic, shallots, and parsley, and stir to combine.
• Step 7 Whisk the egg with 1 tablespoon of water until well combined. Pour the vegetable mixture into the fry pan and top with your prepared puff pastry. Brush the puff pastry with egg wash and then place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the puff pastry is a deep golden-brown. Rest for 10 minutes, then serve.

From Food52.com by Sohla El-Waylly, https://food52.com/recipes/85803-succotash-pot-pie